Freelance Art Director resume examples for 2025

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Updated March 26, 2025
6 min read
Resume Example

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Freelance Art Director Resume

 
Donald Coleman
Freelance Art Director
40015 E. Main Ln., San Francisco, CA | (770) 555-2248 | dcoleman@example.com
Work Experience
Freelance Art Director, Razorfish - San Francisco, CA
2011

Provided art direction, copywriting and editing.

Managed a team of Art Directors, Designers, Junior Designers and Interns.

Designer/Art Director, Delta Dental Insurance - San Francisco, CA
2009 - 2011

Head Graphic Designer / Production Preflight / Head of Digital Color Dept.

Provided art direction to a staff of ten designers as well as outside design consultants.

Increased online sales 300% over 6 months with website redesign for world's largest web host.

Perform design solid modeling, drafting, layout and assemblies using Pro-E.

Creative Services Manager, Delta Dental Insurance - San Francisco, CA
2005 - 2009

Manage the Sales CRM to optimize alignment with digital marketing activities.

Provide art direction, define brand guidelines, and set employee development goals for the department.

Developed and presented business plan for funding for web based customer order entry tool.

Promoted long-term client relationships and provided creative direction to graphic design interns.

Skills
Production Artists, Creative Strategies, Identity, Project Management, Creative Arts, Layout, NYC, Scholarship, Photoshop, Brochures
Education
Bachelor's Degree Graphic Design
1996 - 1999
Academy of Art University - San Francisco, CA
 

How to write a freelance art director resume

Craft a resume summary statement

A well-written resume summary is basically an elevator pitch. You are summing up your skills and experience in a few sentences to wow recruiters, hiring managers, and decision makers into giving you an interview. Here are some tips to putting your best foot first with your resume summary:

Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.

Step 2: Include your years of experience in freelance art director-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.

Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.

Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.

These four steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some freelance art director interviews.

Hi, I'm Zippi, your job search robot. Let me write a first draft of your summary statement.

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List the right project manager skills

Your Skills section is an easy way to let recruiters know you have the skills to do the job. Just as importantly, it can help your resume not get filtered out by hiring software. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

  1. You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description in your resume. Look at the job listing and consider which of the listed skills you have experience with, along with related skills.
  2. Include as many relevant hard skills and soft skills as possible from the listing.
  3. Use the most up to date and accurate terms. Don't forget to be specific.
These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some freelance art director interviews.

Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a freelance art director resume:

  • Photography
  • Strong Work Ethic
  • Creative Development
  • Environmental Design
  • Web Banners
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Graphic Design
  • Concept Development
  • Website Design
  • Creative Direction
  • Photo Shoots
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Fine Arts
  • Music Videos
  • NYC
  • Production Schedules
  • Brochures
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Freelance Art
  • Sketch
  • Corporate Identity
  • Video Shoots
  • Motion Graphics
  • Adobe Indesign
  • HTML
  • Design Solutions
  • PowerPoint
  • Print ADS
  • Creative Vision
  • Logo Design

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How to structure your work experience

Your employment history is arguably one of the most important parts of your resume. It shows you have experience and foundation in your field to successfully master the freelance art director position. Here is how to most effectively structure your work experience:

  1. List your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order. Employers care about your most recent experience the most.
  2. Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
  3. Include only recent, relevant jobs.

How to write freelance art director experience bullet points

Your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. Instead, it is your chance to show your accomplishments and show why you're good at what you do.

  • Use the What, How, and Why format. Answering these questions turns a bland job description into an effective showcase of your abilities.
  • What were your responsibilities or goals?
  • How did you accomplish them?
  • Why were your results important? (How did it impact your company? Can you quantify the results in numbers? )

Here are great bullet points from freelance art director resumes:

Work History Example #1

Marketing Manager

Melaleuca

  • Created online customer accounts to optimize ordering efficiency and increase sales.
  • Worked from home utilizing the internet and phone to grow my home based business.
  • Facilitated business building and product education seminars designed to grow consumer base and recruit future business builders.
  • Opened and executed profitable PPC campaigns.
  • Produced financial snapshots of profitability and ROI for monthly reporting.

Work History Example #2

Senior Designer/Project Manager

Leviton Manufacturing Co

  • Completed all tool installations on schedule as determined by Manufacturing with zero interruptions to 24/7 production facility.
  • Established the Montreal design center for this former division of Cadence.
  • Assumed full responsibility in providing technical input and final approval authority on all deployed SDLC best practice process tool execution.
  • Developed and documented various materials regarding processes and procedures as they relate to project coordination efforts.
  • Designed both Corporate Head Quarters and Corporate Technical facility located in Gwinnett County.

Work History Example #3

Freelance Art Director

Scholastic

  • Conducted photo research, approved proofs, reviewed editorial layouts and hired outside vendors to commission illustrations
  • Designed layouts for book covers, spines, and dust jackets for multiple book lines.
  • Managed all aspects of visual communication media including proposals/presentations, informational brochures and ads.
  • Coordinated the design, layout and production for a Country Accents and Victorian Accents magazines.

Work History Example #4

Freelance Art Director

Aquent

  • Created and maintained all marketing for production group: graphic design using Adobe Illustrator and using internet and local newspaper marketing.
  • Re-created stationery, banner ads, brochures, event invites, web design and advertising campaigns.
  • Designed and implemented entire redesign of firm website using PHP, MySQL, and CSS.
  • Conceptualized and designed sell sheets and point of purchase displays from pencil rough layouts to fully rendered finished presentations.
  • Developed an advanced understanding of fundamental disciplines and principles of color, composition, layout and typography.

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Add an education section to your resume

The education section should display your highest degree first.

Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.

If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries from freelance art director resumes:

Bachelor's Degree In Graphic Design

Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA

1996 - 1999

Highlight your freelance art director certifications on your resume

Certifications can be a crucial part of your resume. Many jobs have required certifications.

To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your freelance art director resume:

  1. Certified of Medical Illustrator (CMI)

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